Our colleagues gave guests an inside look at sociopolitical trends driving employment law change in each of their respective countries, as well as sharing important updates related to practical issues employers are currently facing.

In case you missed it, here are a few of the headlines:

France: French government reclaiming its global appeal for business

Since Macron was elected, there have been significant changes aimed at increasing the attractiveness of France for businesses. Several positive changes for employers include:

Use of independent contractors can be legal if well-planned; ask your Baker McKenzie lawyer about the “bridge point model”

Spain – On a come back

After a period of difficult economic times, Spain is coming back. GDP growth in FY17 was larger in Spain than in the US or Germany, though Spain’s unemployment rate is still high

Experiencing near legislative paralysis (with the exception of Catalonia!) but will likely see changes coming soon given the upcoming election. Stay tuned as several draft bills are in Parliament:

Simplification of employment contracts (only one fixed term contract and indefinite term contracts; both will have severance compensation but terminations should not be complex)

More obligations with respect to gender pay are proposed

Proposed change to require equality of remuneration for subcontract’s and main contractor’s employees.

Considering an obligation to record daily working hours in all situations

Increased focus on protecting trade secrets given as Spain will incorporate the EU Directive of Trade Secrets; now is a good time to review related policies, procedures and employment contracts in Spain

Rise in labor inspections and litigation from contractors challenging their employment status

UK – Brexit looms large, the future of the gig economy is litigated and the press fixates on gender pay gap numbers

Brexit looms with many important details left to be sorted. However, from an employment law perspective, we expect little will change for the time being as all EU law is being incorporated into UK law

Unlike the US, the UK has 3 types of employment status: employee (lots of rights), self-employed contractor (minimal rights, if any), and worker (middle ground where individuals have some rights like holiday pay, national minimum wage, and union recognition)

In a recent wave of misclassification lawsuits, there has been a trend for finding individuals who have entered into contracts as self employed contractors to, in fact, be workers. For instance, in recent litigation involving Uber, drivers were deemed workers for performing personal work. However, one recent case has bucked the trend in which Deliveroo riders were found to be self-employed contractors. A different conclusion in Deliveroo was reached because their contracts included a provision allowing for substitution, meaning their riders were not required to provide personal service. In any event, it’s too soon rely on any of these decisions as they are all subject to further hearings.

The first publishing deadline of the UK Gender Pay Gap reporting just passed yielding intense media scrutiny of data and high levels of public interest

Under the 2017 regulations, employers with 250+ employees in the UK must publish the percentage difference in mean and median hourly pay and bonus paid to women compared to men, among other things

As a result, we are finding an increase in employers conducting equal pay audits under the advice and privilege of legal counsel

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